Red with anger
by MysticFantasy
Summary: No longer being chased by General Ross, Bruce is finally feeling good about himself. But just when things are looking promising something turns his world upside down.
1. Chapter 1

**Red with anger**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Dislcaimer: (_I own no part of this movie or the characters in it._)

.

.

Chapter 1

.

.

"Project Hulk Buster is officially no more." Nick Fury announced as he handed a folder to Bruce Banner. "You certainly proved General Ross that you are no longer a threat to anyone doctor. Congratulations."

"It wasn't just me." Bruce said and looked over to the team he sat with. "Thanks everyone. I couldn't have done this without all of you."

"I've met Ross before and I think this is really going to get him steamed up." Tony said with an amused smile. "Wish I could see it."

"Congratulations doctor." Steve said with his famous encouraging smile.

"Well now that Dr. Banner is no longer a wanted man, he can choose where he goes from here." Fury said.

"I'm not leaving this team." Bruce declared making everyone smile. "We've been through too much together and I don't think Steve can handle Tony by himself."

"Hey!"

"We're glad you're staying with us Bruce." Natasha said.

"Yeah, it would be weird not having you around." Clint added.

"This calls for a celebration." Tony declared. "Drinks on me. You want in Fury?"

"Thanks for the offer Stark but I actually have things to do." Fury answered.

"Next time then. Come on Avengers." Tony said standing from his chair.

"Stark, it's three in the afternoon." Steve said.

"That just means that we get to miss the early crowd and get to bed earlier." Tony said. "Come on Capsicle. You're the designated driver."

"When am I not?" Steve muttered as he followed the billionare and rest of his team.

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

"A toast. A toast." Tony announced looking at his team in a private room they'd rented for the celebration. He held up his shot glass as he spoke. "Here's to Bruce Banner and his new freedom. No longer will he have to worry about Ross trying to catch him and use him as a weapon. Now he can do all of the things he loves to do without worry except sleep deprevation."

"Cheers!"

Bruce smiled as he drank his soda. He'd only taken one shot when they'd arrived and it was the only one he'd drink. He wanted to celebrate his freedom like the others but he couldn't risk anything to let the Other Guy out.

He finally got Ross off his back and he didn't want to do anything to reverse that. It was times like this that he was envious of Steve who could drink the entire bar and not feel a thing.

Looking around at his friends, Bruce smiled. He really wouldn't be at this point without them.

Clint was busy teaching Thor how to play darts, Steve and Natasha were playing pool and Tony and Pepper were standing to the side talking.

After the gamma incident, Bruce never thought he would be around people again. He'd always tried to avoid getting too close to people again for fear that he would hurt them in any way.

When he'd first agreed to be around the future Avengers, it had just been to locate an item that had been around even before Steve's time. Then he'd helped them save the entire planet from an alien threat and now he was calling them friends and having a party to celebrate his freedom.

Finally, things were turning out for the better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Bruce walked into the kitchen the next morning and noticed that Steve was the only one awake.

"Morning." Steve greeted cheerily as he poured a cup of fresh coffee into a mug.

"Morning Steve." Bruce greeted in return. "Where is everyone?"

"Still asleep." Steve answered with a smirk as he handed the mug to the doctor who accepted gratefully. "They really had fun last night."

"And how." Bruce agreed. "For once, I think Thor got buzzed off Earth beer."

"There's a first for everything I guess." Steve mused. "Except in my case."

"Consider yourself lucky. I miss being able to get so drunk that I can't remember my own name." Bruce said. "I just wish that I had been able to copy that ability from you."

"Kinda ironic for me anyway." Steve said. "I never really drank before the serum. Only time I did afterwards was when a mission went bad and I lost someone close to me."

Bruce nodded understandingly, knowing exactly which mission Steve was talking about. Everyone knows about the train mission where Zola was captured but Steve's best friend, Bucky, had been lost during the fight with Steve having witnessed the whole thing.

He wasn't sure how Steve hadn't gone into a mental breakdown. He knew he would. Maybe it was the motivation to avenge his friend's death that kept the super soldier together long enough to defeat Schmidt.

"So," Steve spoke, breaking the silence as he started to pull eggs from the fridge. "What are you going to do now that you're not a wanted man?"

"Tony wants me to stick aroun and help figure out how to make things 'Hulk-proof'." Bruce answered with a smirk. "Actually sounds like a challenge."

"I bet you'll have it figured out by tomorrow night." Steve declared.

"Thanks for the support Steve." Bruce chuckled. "But I think it might take longer than you think since we would have to actually find out to see if it works."

"True." the blond soldier agreed. "Well, good luck to you anyway."

Bruce smiled. He knew he could always count on Steve to be supportive and trusting. There was a sort of bond between him and the legendary soldier. They could count on each other to be truthful about things when it mattered most, like they had each other's back at all times.

Bruce had to admit that Steve was probably the first person he could call his best friend in so long. The very man that he'd tried to make himself into was his closest friend.

Although he wouldn't say it outloud incase that information made its way to Tony. The genius billionare wouldn't take being in second place very well. He was too competitive.

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

"What the hell did we do last night?" Clint muttered as he slowly walked into the living room with a hand to his head and his trademark sunglasses protecting his eyes from all light.

"Drank half of the bar." Steve answered from the recliner as he read a book. "Not to mention that you almost took out the bartenders head with those darts."

"Really?" the archer asked surprised.

"Thor said something about you not being able to hit a bottle behind the bartender without hitting him and of course you tried to prove him wrong. You missed the guy and the bottle." Steve explained turning a page.

"Glad I missed the guy. Not glad I missed my target." Clint muttered as he laid down on the couch.

Steve smirked knowing full well that Clint hated it when he missed his target. On purpose or otherwise.

"You were pretty drunk Clint."

"I've made shots before while completely wasted." Clint stated. "Ask Natasha. She'll tell you."

"When and if she wakes up today, I will." Steve replied. "She did drink more than you. Stronger stuff too."

"That's Natasha." Clint mused.

Steve smirked as he continued to read. For it only being noon, he was surprised that Clint was awake with how much he drank. Luckily the team hadn't gotten into heavier drinking until it was almost seven in the evening.

By the time the bar was closing, the drunken Avengers were too intoxicated to put up a fight when Steve was trying to get them in the car. He was eternally grateful to Pepper for having kept an eye on Tony.

Steve had a time trying to get Natasha into the car. She'd claimed that she wasn't drunk at all and had tried to talk him into going to Moscow where they could get real drinks.

Fortunatly for Steve, what she had already drank got to her and she fell asleep in the car heading back to the tower.

Because of her consumption, Steve was sure that the Black Widow was going to sleep for the rest of the day. Tony had certainly done it many times before and for longer periods of time.

_"Pardon me, Captain Rogers,"_

"Yes Jarvis." Steve said keeping his eyes on the page before him.

_"Dr. Banner is asking for you in the lab sir. He says it's very important."_

"I'm on my way." Steve answered marking his book before getting up and heading to the door. With a smirk, he purposefully slammed it and heard Clint groan in pain on the other side.

"You did that on purpose!" the archer yelled pitifully.

Steve allowed himself a quick chuckle before heading to the elevator. He hit the button for the lab and waited as the elevator started to decend. After a few minutes it slowed to a stop and the doors opened.

The super soldier walked over to the lab entrance where he punched in a code and was let in.

"Doctor?" he called out.

"Over here Steve." Bruce answered waving to the captain from a table.

"Jarvis said you needed me for something important." Steve said.

"Well, it's a simple request really." Bruce answered removing his glasses.

"What is it?" Steve asked curiously.

"Because project Hulk Buster is no more, General Ross and the board want me to be present during the official ceremony of disbanning the program. I'm allowed to bring a guest with me and I'd like for it to be you. The General is a huge fan of yours. I think it would ease his anger a bit if he sees that I brought along the famous Captain America."

Steve chuckled. He'd heard a little about General Ross and heard the rumor one of the reasons he is the way he is is because he tried to mold himself after Steve.

"Of course Bruce. I'll attend the ceremony with you." he said and noticed the doctor look relieved at his answer.

"Thanks Steve. I owe you one." he said.

"No problem." Steve said. "When is this little party?"

"Saturday at three." Bruce answered. "It's going to be a ceremony followed by dinner. So we have to be dressed formally."

"Don't worry. Fury gave me my captain's uniform from the war. Surprisingly, it's exactly the same as the last time I wore it. But I didn't bother to ask who had it all this time." Steve said.

"After you vanished, the people who formed SHIELD saved most of your things because they hoped that you would be found and would return to give hope to the world. Believe me, there's a few other things of yours that they have."

"I'd rather not know." Steve said looking a little weirded out by the information.

Bruce chuckled as he remembered hearing the same situation when Agent Coulson misworded that he'd been watching Steve when he was still frozen in the ice.

Being from a time when that wasn't totally accepted, Steve hadn't said a word about it and continued on as if he hadn't heard it at all. The soldier himself wasn't against it but did feel a little strange when a man said he'd been watching him sleep.

Bruce wondered how General Ross was going to act when he saw Captain America standing next to him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Bruce straightened out his grey suit one final time and looked over to Steve who looked all too perfect in his captain's uniform. His hair was combed to perfection, his uniform suited him perfectly and he just looked like a model ready to walk the catwalk.

The two men walked into a large building that was brilliantly lit and looked ready for a political party. They were greeted by a butler and were escorted to where the meeting was taking place in what looked to be a ballroom that was filled with people the doctor had come across at one time or another.

Bruce felt intimidated being in a place with so many people who had tried to kill or or trap or study him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Doctor Bruce Banner and Captain Steven Rogers."

Bruce lightly smiled when the people in the large room began clapping but he guessed it was directed more toward Steve. The man was a living legend and national icon.

They made their way to the center of the room where a round table was set and where General Ross was standing.

"Hello General." Bruce greeted.

"Banner." Ross said in return then smiled when he turned to Steve. "Catain Rogers. Sir, it's an honor to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet you as well sir." Steve said as he shook hands with the general.

"Captain, I can't tell you how honored I am to meet you. It's a great privelage to meet the greatest soldier and war hero to ever live."

"Thank you sir. I'm glad that I could be here with Doctor Banner for this ceremony." Steve said.

Ross turned his attention to Bruce.

"Smart move Banner." he said before walking to the side.

"I think he's starting to like me." Bruce said sarcastically.

"It shows." Steve added with a smirk before another high ranking military officer appeared to shake his hand and speak with him.

Bruce stood back for a second and marveled at the way Steve was able to easily speak to other military personel. Usually he was nervous around other people but that seemed to change when he himself was in uniform.

He noticed the same thing when Steve would put on his Captain America uniform. It was like a whole different person came out.

_It's the uniform_. Bruce thought to himself with a smirk. _It's always the uniform._

Bruce spoke to a few people who were congratulating him on the ceremony and disbanning of Project: Hulk Buster. A few of the people had asked how he managed to ask Captain America to be his guest.

Bruce said that he and the famous captain had become close friends after the battle against Loki and they'd worked together on a number of things afterwards.

"I'd say that a lot of people are supporting your new freedom." Steve said with a smile as he stood next to his friend.

"I think so." Bruce agreed. "But I can't help but feel that Ross still isn't going to give up so easily."

"I have to admit, his sense of determination is impressive." Steve said. "Reminds me of a colonel I once knew."

Bruce lightly smiled as someone called over a microphone for everyone to quiet down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today is a day of celebration. Celebration of freedom. To a man who has done great things despite a few hurdles in his path. Will Dr. Bruce Banner please come up on the stage?"

Clapping filled his ears and Bruce felt a little intimidated by it. Just a little over a year ago, many poeple in this room had been trying to kill him and now they are supporting his new freedom.

"General Ross."

The general walked up onto the stage.

"And if we could have our other special guest join us for this glorious moment. Captain Rogers."

Loud cheers erupted as Steve walked up onto the stage and stood next to Bruce. An assistant wheeled over a small table that had a document on it and two pens.

"Doctor. General. With the signing of this document, Project Hulk Buster will officially be no more. If you will gentlemen."

Bruce and Ross both stepped forward and took a pen in hand and signed the paper together.

"I'll still be watching you Banner." Ross said quiet enough for just Bruce to hear.

"I wouldn't doubt it." Bruce replied in the same tone as he finished signing his name. They stood and shook hands while pictures were taken.

"If we can get a witness signature. Captain, would you do the honor?"

"Gladly." Steve said walking to the table, grabbing a pen and signing his name right under Bruce's.

Bruce had to blink a few times as multiple flashes appeared as Steve wrote his name on the document.

_I'm never walking around with him in public._ he thought to himself as Steve stood straight and smiled at him.

"Project Hulk Buster is now no more."

The room was once again filled with clapping and happy cheers.

Bruce felt a sudden weight lift from inside it and it made him smile. He hadn't had a run in with Ross and his men in almost two years but he hadn't realized until now that he had still feared they would show up and try to kill or capture him.

He still hadn't gotten over what they'd done to his dog in Brazil.

The two Avengers stayed at the party for another two hours before deciding to call it a night in case Fury called which they didn't think he would since he knew about this party and knew they would be attending it.

"I heard what Ross said." Steve said as they quietly drove back to the tower.

"How did..." Bruce exclaimed.

"I love how all of you keep forgetting about my enhanced hearing." Steve said with a smirk.

"I hate I keep forgetting about your enhanced hearing." Bruce replied.

"He can watch all he wants but you're with the Avengers now. You're one of the good guys. He'll have to go through all of us to get to you."

Bruce lightly smiled.

"Thanks Steve." he said. "That means a lot to me. I've never had anyone help me out like this. Except for Betty. Plus, I think we found someone who admires you almost as much as Coulson."

Steve chuckled as the tower came into view.

"Although I doubt that Ross has your entire action figure collection." Bruce added making Steve laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Bruce found himself smiling sleepily as he woke up.

A peaceful two weeks had gone by since the disbanning of Project Hulk Buster and even though the thought of Ross still trying to drag him in was still present in his mind, Bruce found himself a little more relaxed.

Without the worry of being hunted, he found himself bonding even more with his teammates. The fear of having to keep his distance around them wasn't present along with the fear that he'd suddenly have to pick up and leave again.

Naturally he and Tony already had a great friendship and Tony even labeled them Science Brother's. It was fitting but Bruce would never admit that outloud because it would give Tony a bigger swelled head and ego than he already has.

Clint and Natasha were teaching him how to shoot and sweet talk his way out a situation if he was ever in one. Although Clint was teaching him how to sweet talk a woman.

Thor was telling him all of the things about Asgard there was to know. Bruce had believed that he knew the Norse myths well enough to know what Thor was talking about but he was quickly proven wrong when Thor got into details that either no one knew or were twisted around completely.

Then there was Steve.

Bruce felt that he owed a lot to the captain. The reputation of the world's only super soldier is what had sort of gotten him into the mess in the first place but it was the good heart of the man who'd recieved the serum who'd gotten him out of it.

Steve learning that he was the only person the Hulk would listen to was proving to benefit everyone. Ending Ross' team of moster hunters was only the first step.

He and Steve had been good friends before but now it seemed their friendship was getting stronger.

Bruce helped Steve figure out things that were still confusing to him and Steve loved to tell Bruce about how things were back in his time. It was a great learning experience for both of them and the doctor found it as a 'learning of different worlds' experience.

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

"Mail call!" Tony announced as he walked into the room.

"What mail? People still do that?" Clint exclaimed. "We never get mail unless it's from Fury and that's through computers."

"There's only one letter and it's for our resident doctor." Tony answered as he handed the letter to Bruce.

"Well, this isn't odd." Bruce said sarcastically as he opened the letter.

"Who's it from?" Tony asked.

"Believe it or not, it's from Ross." Bruce answered as he put his glasses on and quickly read the letter. "He's inviting all of us to a party."

"Well, that sounds a little...freaky." Clint said. "I never thought I'd see the day when Thunderbolt Ross is trying to patch things up with Bruce Banner."

"Neither did I." Bruce said. "Especially after what he said at the signing."

"What are you going to do?" Tony asked.

"I don't know." Bruce answered honestly. "I really have no idea what to make of this."

"When's the party?" Tony asked.

"Next Saturday."

"So you have eight days to decide. I say don't do it." Tony said.

"But what if it's real?" Clint asked.

"From Ross?" Bruce questioned. "This is the man who talked me into trying to replicate the very serum that was used to make Captain America and when it all went wrong basically sent the entire army after me. To either kill or capture me. Mostly capture so that I could be used as a weapon."

"You make a good point." Clint stated. "I say don't go then."

"Maybe you should go talk to Steve about it." Tony suggeted. "You told us about how Ross was practically drooling at meeting him."

"He was." Bruce said with a smirk at having seen a crack in the generals usually serious expression. "Anyone know where Steve is?"

_"Captain Rogers is currently in the gym with Agent Romanoff."_ Jarvis answered.

"Thank you Jarvis." Bruce said about to walk out of the room.

"You're really going to into the gym when those two are training?" Clint asked looking a little surprised.

"Why?"

"Have you seen those two sparring?" Tony asked. "Let's just say that it's a good thing we're on the same team."

"Ok." Bruce chuckled and walked out of the room with Tony and Clint claiming they'd say something nice at his funeral. Quickly taking the elevator to the training area, Bruce quickly made his way to the Avengers private gym.

Upon entering the gym, Bruce quickly realized why Tony and Clint were nervous about him coming here.

Steve and Natasha were easily well known as two of the best hand to hand fighters on the planet and the doctor could see why.

Currently, the captain and spy were trying to outdo each other in a series of acrobatic and skillful fighter moves.

It looked like they had been going at it for a while and it seemed like it wasn't going to stop any time soon.

"Hey Bruce." Natasha greeted as she threw a kick to Steve who easily dodged.

"Hey guys." the doctor greeted. "I'm not interrupting am I?"

"Not really." Natasha answered as she ducked from a punch.

"Steve, when you're done here, think we could have a word later?" Bruce asked.

"Of course." Steve answered. "Something wrong?"

"Not really." Bruce answered. "It's something about General Ross."

"Is he up to no good again?" Natasha asked as she and Steve halted in their sparring.

"That's what I can't figure out." Bruce answered walking over to the sparring ring and handed Steve the invitation.

The soldier and spy quickly scanned the letter before turning back to Bruce.

"Are you going to accept?" Natasha asked.

"I don't know." Bruce answered. "It seems a little strange to me."

"Me too." Steve said. "It sounds like a peace offering but from a man who, I myself heard, said that he was going to continue keeping an eye on you."

"After everything that happened I highly doubt that Ross is going to lighten up on his attempt to lock me up." Bruce said. "I personally think that he might be up to something."

"I think that too." Steve said. "But there has to be a reason he's doing this and allowing you to bring the team with you. If he were up to something then why would he have all of the Avengers present?"

"You think we should accept?" Natasha asked.

"I think we should." Steve answered handing the invitation back to Bruce. "If we stick together in pairs or groups then it'll be harder for Ross to try to pull anything. Just make sure that someone is always with you Bruce."

"Alright." Bruce agreed. "I'll reply saying that we're coming."

"Good. Once we're there, we can try to figure out what he's up to."

"Alright. Thanks for the help." Bruce said and left the room.

The second the doctor was out of the gym, Steve found himself falling into his back and his wrists pinned by his head.

"That was a cheat shot." he groaned to Natasha.

"You should know me better by now." she replied releasing him and they both sat up. "You really think that Ross might be trying to pull something to make Bruce look bad?"

"Not sure." Steve answered. "I don't know this Ross guy very well but I did read the files on him and the connection he has to Bruce. He doesn't seem like he'd give up trying to make the Hulk into a weapon. Either way, one or two of us should stick close to Bruce the entire night we're there."

"I can see why Fury put you in charge of this little time bomb team." Natasha said running her fingers through the blushing soldier's hair. "You've got such good ideas."

"Uh...th-thanks."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

"How is it that he can put on the d**n uniform and suddenly he's a different person?" Tony asked as he and Bruce stood to the side and watched as their captain easily chatted with other military officers.

His beloved captain's uniform was once again being worn and, if anything, looked better than the current uniforms of the military captains. It was simple but made him look powerful and authoritive.

"I thought the same thing when he came with me to the ceremony." Bruce replied. "It's like he has split personalities."

"I think it's the grandpa clothes that make him the shy kid from Brooklyn." Tony said as Steve shook hands and greeted another sergeant.

"Maybe you should take him to get new clothes. Maybe it'll change him like the uniform does." Bruce suggested with a smirk.

"That's a good idea." Tony said sounding like he was going to do exactly that.

"You know I was kidding right?"

"Yes. But a good idea is a good idea." Tony said. "I'm going to make an appointment with all of my personal tailors and take him to all of my favorite clothes stores. I will get him to dress modernly if it is the last thing I do. Don't quote me on that though. He's a stubborn piece of work."

"Where does that sound familiar?" Bruce joked.

"Hey, if it works you'll get fifty percent of the credit." Tony mused.

"Not twelve?" Bruce joked.

"She _still_ won't let that go?!" Tony lightly exclaimed. He huffed and walked over to the bar area. Forgetting that he was suppose to stick to Bruce until one of the others came over.

Bruce chuckled and walked around, talking to people who came up to him and congratulated him on his new freedom, and getting to see his teammates in a whole new perspective.

Steve always seemed to act different when he was Captain America or wearing his prized captain's uniform. As soon as either uniform was on him, he was no longer the shy and timid man they'd all come to know. He came out of his shell, even if it was just temporary.

Talking to anyone and everyone who walked up to him to meet the famous super soldier. He also didn't stammer around women as badly as always does.

Natasha and Clint always seemed to be use to crowds but Bruce had guessed that it had been part of their training as assassins and spies.

Clint seemed to be trying to sweet talk a woman right now and Natasha was making her way over to Steve. She must have felt that he was being smothered by all of the attention he was getting from the military personel and managed to get him onto the dance floor.

_I wonder how she talked him into learning to dance._ Bruce wondered as he watched the two twirl around the floor with other couples. _She must have really made him sweat though._

"I thought we said you couldn't be alone." Clint said coming out of nowhere and slightly surprising Bruce.

"Tell that to Tony." Bruce replied. "He was the last one with me."

"I'll tell Steve when Natasha lets him go." Clint said with a smirk.

"Banner."

Bruce lightly sighed, instantly recognizing the voice. He turned and came face to face with none other than Thunderbolt Ross.

"General." he greeted, neither man putting a hand forward to shake.

"I'm thrilled that you once again brought Captain Rogers. He's very popular. And who are you son?"

"I'm SHIELD Agent Clint Barton. Better known as Hawkeye." Clint answered putting his hand forward and shaking hands with the general while keeping a perfect poker face. A trick that Bruce had seen the archer do many times.

"SHIELD huh? Is Captain Rogers an official agent of theirs?" Ross asked.

"No." Clint answered. "He's actually trying to re-enlist but Fury thinks it would get in the way if another crisis were to pop up."

"Then Director Fury doesn't know the first thing about war." Ross declared. "It can happen at any time and any where. That's why we have soldiers and Captain Rogers is the greatest there ever was and still is."

"No argument there." Clint said. "I've seen him in action. The thunder god over there is the only person who could take him on."

"You honestly believe that I'm going to believe that hippie is the Norse god of thunder?" Ross asked skeptically.

"Hey, you spent years chasing after a guy who could turn into a green rage machine. You honestly think this sounds crazier?" Clint asked.

"Well, you make a good point Agent Barton." Ross admitted. "But that doesn't mean that I believe it."

Bruce laughed internally. It wasn't like Ross to believe that there was an actual Asgardian on the team. He just thought that Thor was some kind of workout crazed person that kept his hair long and wore strange clothes.

"He's a charmer." Clint said sarcastically.

"Should have seen him trying to talk me into making the serum to make another Captain America." Bruce said. "Then when it all went wrong, he was after my head."

"Not just because of the accident. Right?" Clint asked. "I heard that you were getting frisky with his daughter."

Bruce nervously chuckled and felt his face heat up a little.

"Well, Betty and I had been dating for a while. Ross didn't like it one bit and, even before the Other Guy made his grand appearance, he was determined to keep us apart."

"How long has it been since you last saw her?" Clint asked sincerely.

"A few years." Bruce answered. "I actually think that it's for the best. Now that I'm part of the team and helping take on all these bad guys, I think it would be too risky to be around Betty and risk hurting her. Heck, I'm the same way with you guys."

"Hey, the only one of us that you need to worry about is Tony and that's just because of his little cattle prod he keeps poking you with." Clint said. "Don't worry about the rest of us. We can handle it or at least get you to the Hulk-proof floor."

"I still can't believe Tony managed to figure out how to do that." Bruce said with a smirk.

"I can't believe it either but Stark has a way of surprising the hell out of everyone." Clint said.

"That's true." Bruce agreed and spotted Steve and Natasha heading their way.

"Steve, I gotta tattle." Clint said. "Tony left Bruce alone."

"Why am I not surprised?" Steve asked.

"We'll stay with him Clint. Someone over there is undressing you with their eyes." Natasha said motioning to the side with her eyes.

Clint smirked and followed her gaze before leaving the three.

"He's going to turn into the kind of playboy Tony was before he was with Pepper." Natasha commented.

"Wow." Bruce mused.

"We saw Ross come talk to you." Steve said.

"Yeah. He talked to Clint mostly. Barely said a word to me. Called Thor a hippie." the doctor answered.

Natasha chuckled. It wasn't the first time she heard that title placed on Thor and she was sure that it wasn't going to be the last.

"Ross say anything to you at all?" Steve asked.

"He just said that he was glad that you came and said that you were really popular." Bruce said.

"You noticed that right Steve?" Natasha asked.

"Noticed what?"

"Whenever you're wearing this uniform or your Captain America uniform, you turn into Mr. Popularity and come out of your shell." Bruce said.

"I do?"

"Yes, you do." Natasha said. "After this little party, we need to take Steve clubbing while he's still dressed like this."

"I don't think it'll work." Steve said.

"I think it will." Bruce said. "It kinda seems like you have different personalities when it comes to uniforms and clothes."

"Is such a thing possible?"

"Steve, you need to relax a little. Let us take you clubbing." Natasha said. "You do and we find a result to this little theory and we'll both owe you a favor."

"Hey, you know that I don't like people owing me."

"You know, you two sound like a married couple." Bruce said causing the two to stare at him with stunned expressions and a slight blush creeping onto both their faces.

"Hey everyone." Tony greeted walking over with a fresh drink in his hand. "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing." Steve and Natasha answered as they walked away in seperate directions.

"What's with them?" Tony asked.

"I haven't a clue." Bruce said with a smirk.

"You do know. Spill!"

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

Steve walked out into the beautiful garden. Perfectly trimmed bushes and flower beds surrounded him.

He walked for a while just absorbing the quiet nature when he placed his hands in his jacket pockets. He lightly frowned when he felt something in his right pocket.

Pulling it out, Steve saw that it was a letter.

Making sure no one was around, he opened the letter and began to read what it said.

_Captain Rogers,_

_Your help is requested in private at warehouse 15 in the harbor at ten o'clock tonight. A matter has come up and your knowledge is needed since I feel that I cannot trust any one else. I will be waiting for you captain. Please tell no one of this message and come alone._

Steve folded the letter and placed it back in his pocket.

_What could be so bad that I would need to go to a warehouse at night alone?_ Steve asked himself as he slowly made his way back to the mansion. _It must be serious enough for someone to slip this to me without me noticing. I better go and see what it's about._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Steve had actually considered having one of the others come with him as back up but had decided against it since the note specifaclly asked for him to come alone.

Dressed in his Captain America uniform and his shield on his arm, he carefully hid in the shadows of the harbor as he made his way to the warehouse where he was to meet the person who'd slipped him the note.

He wondered who this person was and what it was that his help was needed with.

Finding the warehouse, Steve checked to make sure no one was around before he went to the doors. He quietly opened it and walked inside.

The lighting wasn't very good, only a few overhead lights were actually on.

"Hello?" he called out and only heard the echo of his voice answer him.

_Maybe I'm early_. he thought to himself as he walked toward the center of the building. There were large piles of wooden crates and a few machines around him. It all looked like it had been sitting there a while. Judging by the build up of dust.

_Why would I be asked to come to a place like this?_ he asked himself as he ran a finger over the top of a crate and saw the obvious mark left behind.

_Creak_

Steve whirled around, shield raised and eyes darting around to find the source of the noise. He didn't see anything right away but his instincts were telling him that he was not alone.

Slowly, he began to creep over to the crates for cover. The building was so dimly lit that he wouldn't be noticed right away, even with the different colors of his uniform.

Standing behind a few crates that were about a foot taller than him, Steve peered around the building.

His nerves were telling him that something wasn't right and that he needed to leave right now. But being the stubborn soldier that he is, Steve stayed put and waited.

_Clunk_

The blond soldier turned in the direction where he heard what sounded like a can fall. His senses now on full alert since he still didn't see anyone or anything that coud have caused that noise.

Slowly making his way back to the doors, Steve realized that he was most likely in an ambush. It wasn't the first and probably wouldn't be the last.

Just as he reached the doors, he stilled and allowed his hearing to take over.

Breathing. He heard heavy breathing.

He knew it wasn't his own. Someone was here. Close by.

Whirling around, Steve raised his shield but it didn't do anything since he found himself suddenly flying threw the air and across the room. He crashed into a pile of wooden crates and fell to the floor.

He lightly groaned but quickly pushed himself onto his knees and looked up in time to see something that sent chills down his spine.

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

SHIELD agents quickly parted to the side, pressing themselves against walls or ducking into open rooms or hallways, doing what they could to get out of the way of the charging Avengers.

Bruce, Natasha, Clint, Tony and Thor raced down the halls toward the medical wing of the helicarrier. Their feet going as fast as possible and their minds racing even faster from the news that Steve had been found nearly beaten to death in a warehouse and was barely hanging on by a thread.

The five Avengers quickly entered the medical wing and began searching for their friend and captain. They moved toward the ICU ward, figuring that that was where Steve was being kept if he was in as serious condition as they had been told he was in.

Their instincts paid off since they spotted Fury and Hill speaking with a doctor.

"Fury!" Tony shouted as they made their way over and stopped next to the three. "What is going on?!"

Director Fury was silent for a moment before pointing to the side.

"Look in there and tell me yourself." he answered, sounding very nerve wracked. Which was something they had never known him for being in any situation.

The five looked over to a glass window in the wall and felt their hearts skip a beat or come to a stop at what they saw. They all moved over to get a better look, not sure if their eyes were playing tricks on them or not.

They saw a figure lying on a hospital bed, surrounded by different machines that were monitoring different things. Their head was heavily bandaged, only their eyes and nose weren't covered.

A respirator tube was taped in place in their mouth, providing oxygen. Their eyes were blackened and many other bruises could be see on any visible skin. A neck collar was keep their head still although they were sure they wouldn't be moving any time soon.

A cast encased their right arm and the lime green blanket covered the body from their toes to their chest, preventing any other injuries from being seen.

Having been around them for so long, the five Avengers instantly knew that it was Steve they were looking at.

"How did this happen?!" Thor demanded souding both worried and angry. Worried for his friend and angry that someone would dare lay a finger on him.

"Is he...going to survive?!" Clint asked knowing full well that, although Steve is a super soldier, the captain was still very human and could be lost to them from injuries like this.

"We...won't know for sure Agent Barton." the doctor answered. "His injuries are serious enough for him to be on round the clock care. He's in a coma right now and the next forty eight hours will tell us if he'll survive or not."

"Back to Thor's question, how did this happen?!" Tony demanded.

"Rogers was found inside an abandoned warehouse." Fury began. "There were obvious signs of a fight. He was found unconscious and unresponsive by a few locals who heard the commotion and called it in. He flatlined once on the way here but was revived."

"But _who_ did this?!" Natasha questioned with a burning anger inside her. Steve had quickly gained her trust and friendship and she hated to see someone as sweet and caring as him in this kind of condition.

The person who did this had easily just been placed number one enemy and target in her book and she was sure the others felt the same.

"We had a team sent to investigate what could have happened and who could have been strong enough to do this." Fury answered. "We found some...disturbing evidence."

"Like?" Bruce pressed.

"Signs of...the Hulk." the director answered, causing the Avengers to look stunned and eyes slowly turning to Bruce.

"You can't be serious." the doctor declared. "You guys know that, even as the Hulk, I would never hurt Steve."

"Fury, he's got a point." Tony said. "Hulk actually listens to Steve. Never once displayed any kind of anger towards him. Never raised a finger to him. Besides, we were with Bruce since that stupid party Ross had. It couldn't have been him."

"I very much agree with everything you said but there is solid evidence that there was a Hulk in that building with Rogers. Footprints, fist marks...there's even a security tape."

"What?" Bruce gasped. "That can't be."

"Where's the tape?"Clint asked.

Fury reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a black VHS tape.

"In here." he said and led the way into Steve's room.

The five followed and right away wanted to be at Steve's side but they had to hold themselves back for the moment. In a corner of the room, a TV monitor with a VCR was set up.

Fury turned on the TV and placed the tape in the VCR and pressed play.

At first all that was seen were two warehouses that didn't seem to be important. Then their eyes caught sight of someone moving toward one of the buildings.

A familiar shield let them know that it was Steve. They watched as he made his way into the building and out of sight.

"What was he doing there?!" Tony asked.

"We don't know." Fury answered and pressed fast foward. Several minutes of nothing quickly passed on the screen before the tape played at regular speed again.

This time, part of the ceiling caved in and a forklift suddenly flew through the wall, leaving a large hole.

A large figure made its way by the hole and Fury quickly paused it.

The five looked at the screen carefully and noticed an all too familiar appearance. A figure of pure rage and muscle.

"That is _not_ me!" Bruce stated.

"Dr. Banner, I have no doubt that you wouldn't hurt Rogers but you can clearly see the Hulk right there. There was evidence everywhere that said it was the Hulk. He's the only other one besides Thor who's capable of doing this to Captain America."

"Friend Banner, please, tell us that you did not harm the captain." Thor said. His voice was just barely hiding a tone of hurt and anger. He didn't want to believe that one of his closest friends would do this to another friend.

"No, that's not me. I didn't do that." Bruce declared. "Come on. You guys know me better. I wouldn't hurt Steve."

"So you're suggesting there's another Hulk out there?" Fury asked.

Bruce looked at the director, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him. He knew he would never hurt Steve but how could he prove it?

Especially when there was a security tape obbviously showing the Hulk.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Natasha opened another desk drawer and began searching through everything inside it. She felt guilty for looking through Steve's things in his apartment but she and Clint were ordered to find anything that might tell them why Steve had been at the harbor just a few days ago.

"Find anything Nat?" Clint called from the small living room.

"Nothing yet." she answered. "You?"

"Just that Cap likes to draw." came the answer.

Natasha picked up a few pieces of paper and quickly read through each one. They were mostly from SHIELD and offers they were giving Steve. Offers being made to allow him to return to the Army if he wished and stay a member of the Avengers, stay with SHIELD as a high ranking agent, time to be alone for a while and various other things.

_Wish I could get vacation time like this._ Natasha thought to herself as she turned to another page and right away noticed that it was different from the others. It was a simple letter.

Quickly reading it, her eyes went wide.

"Clint!"

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

"Fury!"

The said director turned when he heard his name being called. He turned away from the window where the injured Captain America was being treated.

"Barton. Romanoff. What do you have?"

"Something that gives us a good clue as to why Steve was at that warehouse." Natasha answered and handed Fury a note inside an evidence bag.

Fury looked over the note before looking back at the two before him.

"What were you able to get from this?" he asked.

"Just location." Clint answered. "We took it to the lab and there were no finger prints to be found. But..."

"But what?" Fury pressed.

"Sir, this has the suggestion of military training involved." Clint answered.

"How?" Natasha asked.

"Think about it. Steve somehow got a hold of a note asking only for his help and no one else to tag along with him. He shows up at the place and gets ambushed in the dead of night and away from the population. Sir, this sounds like someone was after him."

Fury looked at Clint with a serious expression.

"You're right." he finally spoke. "It does sound like an ambush and by the one force that could out match Captain America. I don't like how this looks."

"But who would want to do something like this to Steve?" Natasha questioned as she looked through the viewing glass to see Steve lying motionless.

"He has a lot of enemies but none of them are stupid enough to try something like this against him." Fury said.

"You think it might be someone he knows?" Clint suggested.

"That would hard to prove but...yes. I think it might be." Fury answered. "Rogers is the only one who knows who attacked him for sure but we won't know until he wakes up. He'll be kept under careful security. Thor was ordered to leave for a while to rest but he'll be back in about two hours. I want you two to stay here with Rogers until he gets back."

"Yes, sir." the two replied.

"Good. Let me know if anything changes or you can think of anything we may have missed to get us in this situation." Fury said and left.

The two Avengers walked past the armed guards and into the room where their friend and teammate lay.

They sat in the available chairs and remained silent for a few moments before it finally got to Natasha.

"I can't get it off my mind that someone would be brave and stupid enough to try to take on Steve."

"People are getting dumber by the day, Nat." Clint said. "But whoever did this really must have a low IQ level."

"Not to mention they must really want to be number one on our hit list." the spy added.

"Has to be someone who's after something big." Clint added. "Taking out Captain America is like trying to take out the entire country."

"Maybe they wanted to send us a message." Natasha suggested. "Like, by taking out Steve means they are trying to take out the country or showing just how vulnerable it is."

"Well, their message made it to us but it won't be getting out for anyone else to see." Clint said. "Which will mean..."

"That there may be another message heading our way." Natasha finished.

"This is crazy." Clint exclaimed as he stood and slowly paced around the room. "If that's true and going to happen, then that means that the next message may happen soon."

"Especially if whoever did this somehow figures out that Steve is still alive." Natasha added as her hands turned into fists on her lap.

"It's a good thing that Thor will be here watching out for Steve." Clint said. "He's the best body guard that anyonecould ask for."

"Knowing that Thor will be here makes me feel better." Natasha confessed.

"Me too." Clint agreed. "Hey, what happened to Bruce?"

"He's at the tower with Tony." Natasha answered. "There wasn't really enough proof to put him in that cage they remade. But now he's going to be under constantly supervision. Tony even made a tracking bracelet for him to wear so we can always know where he is."

"Well, this should prove his innocence." Clint stated as he looked outside the window to the sky outside. "Still, how could a Hulk have done this to Cap when we know that Bruce was with us the whole time?"

"Well unless someone managed to clone the Hulk, I don't think we're going to find out any time soon Clint." Natasha said.

_Yeah._ Clint agreed. _There had to have been some kind of machine dressed up to look like the Hulk since there's only one of him in the world._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Clint lightly rocked the chair back and forth, the creaking the only sound besides the hospital machines that he found to be very haunting.

He was almost as creeped out about hospitals as Tony but his profession had him around them too much to feel comfortable. He heard so much of the medical lingo that happened between doctor's and nurses that he was sure he could qualify for a degree in either medical practice.

Luckily, the doctor that was tending to Steve's health and recovery had annoucned Steve was doing a little better. At least he had recovered enough to be taken off the ventalator.

Though his breathing was monitored, the doctor had said it seemed promising that Steve would be able to breath on his own from now on. Still no signs of regaining consciousness though.

"You're going to break that chair if you keep doing that." Bruce lightly warned.

"It's all good." Clint said. "These chairs were made to last for a while. Or at least against a guy like me. If it went up against Stark, then we have something to be concerned about."

"Alright, I'll give you that one." Bruce said with a smirk.

"So, how are the chances for Cap waking up soon?" Clint asked as he turned to look at their injured captain.

"Well, he's healing very well." Bruce said. "The serum is greatly speeding up his recovery. A lot of his wounds have already healed but it is taking a while for some of the others to properly heal."

"Bruce, no offence or anything but, how come Fury doesn't have you under armed guard or something?" Clint asked.

"No offence taken." Bruce said. "Other than knowing the most about gamma radiation, I also know the most about our one and only super soldier. I know how his metabolism works, how his regenerative powers work...almost basically everything there is to know."

"Again no offence but that's just kinda creepy." Clint said.

Bruce lightly chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess it is." he said.

"Does Steve know you know so much about him?" Clint asked.

"I never told him but I think he knows." Bruce answered. "He knows that I became the Other Guy because I was trying to replicate the serum Erskine used on him. I know he read files about me when we all first came together to be the Avengers. I never asked him how he feels about it though."

"I don't think he'll say anything about it." Clint said as he leaned back into his chair.

"What makes you say that?" Bruce asked.

"Well, Steve would have said something about it right away. He even told you that he doesn't care about your alter ego. Although, he did show him who's boss when it comes to a fight."

"I'm still surprised by that." Bruce said. "The Other Guy got to be a weapon after all. Just not the way that Ross had wanted."

"You know, I can't help but think that Ross has something to do with all of this." Clint said as he stood up and slowly paced about the room.

"What?" Bruce exclaimed. "Ross is almost a big a fan of Steve's as Agent Coulson. Why would he come up with some plan to nearly kill him?"

"I don't know but...You can't go as many years as I have as a spy and assassin to not know when something doesn't seem right. Something definately doesn't feel right and I have a feeling that whoever is behind this is trying to frame you for what happened to Steve."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Bruce couldn't help but feel that Clint had been right about Ross. There was definatly something off about this whole thing.

He was more sure of his spy friend's suspicions when he was asked to go to Fury's office. He became more certain of that when he saw General Ross standing in the office along with the SHIELD director.

"Dr. Banner, come in." Fury said.

Bruce did so, shutting the door behind him.

"What's all this about?" the doctor asked.

"Well, Fury knows why I'm here." Ross stated. "I made an immediate request to have you locked up."

"Excuse me?!"

"You heard me Banner!" Ross declared. "You need to be locked away for what you did to Captain Rogers!"

"D**n it, Ross! I didn't hurt Steve!" Bruce declared, trying to keep his temper down. The last thing he needed was to give Ross a reason for him to be put in that cage.

"There is a video showing the Hulk attacking the man who is a national icon and greatest hero this world will ever know." Ross stated.

"How do you know it wasn't some kind of trick?" Bruce demanded. "Everyone here, including Captain Rogers, knows that I would never hurt him."

"How in the world can you explain someone making another Hulk and sending it to attack Captain Rogers?" Ross asked.

"I don't know." Bruce answered with a defeated tone. "All I know is that I _did not_ attack Steve Rogers."

"Banner, the evidence is against you and I'm sure that, if he coud, Captain Rogers would admit that he was attacked by your little split personality." Ross said.

"If you recall, _you_ were the one who asked me to try to make more super soldiers." Bruce replied. "If it hadn't been for you, the Hulk wouldn't even be around in the first place."

Ross and Bruce then entered a heated staring contest that was interrupted by Fury.

"General, I've read your request and, although I admit there is a lot of evidence, I have to agree with Dr. Banner about not harming his teammates. He hasn't so much as raised his voice towards any of them. This is a confusing situation for all of us. Captain Rogers is the only one who can confirm if it was Dr. Banner or not. Obviously, he can't do that right now so we really don't have much choice on anything right now."

"Director, if you don't lock this man up right now, who knows what else he can do?" Ross said. "Going after Captain Rogers like that should mean that he should be locked up for good for the rest of his life."

"Why don't you let us decide that general?" Fury said. "I'll keep you updated on everything that happens."

The general nodded, sent one last glare to Bruce and left the office. Once Ross was gone, Fury turned to Bruce.

"Banner, I know that you wouldn't willingly hurt Rogers or anyone else."

"So where does that leave us?" Bruce asked.

"I'm leaving this to you." Fury said. "Until Rogers wakes up, everyone is going to believe that it was you that attacked him. He's the only one who can clear you. We both know that Ross isn't going to give up trying to pin this on you."

Bruce sighed heavily as he sank into a chair.

Fury was right.

Until Steve woke up from his coma, everyone is going to think that he was the one who hurt the captain. Fury and the rest of the Avengers were the only ones who believe that he was innocent.

"Put me in the cell." the doctor finally said.

"You're sure about this?" Fury asked.

"Yes." Bruce answered. "Until Steve himself can say that it wasn't me who attacked him, it would be better off if I was away from him and anyone else who thinks I may hurt him or everyone else who's around. Besides, maybe this way the real culprit will reveal himself."

"Smart thinking." Fury said. "I'm not going to like putting you in that cage but you do have a good point. I'll tell the other Avengers to keep you updated on anything that happens. When Rogers wakes up and he's able to talk, we'll get the information we need most and let you out."

Bruce nodded as he stood and right away felt like he was walking the long mile.

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

Clint and Natasha didn't like that Ross was watching Steve as he slept. The general came to see him claiming that he wanted to give his wishes for a quick recovery.

Both spies weren't totally buying his story.

They were sure that he hoped that Steve would recover quickly but they believed that he had another reason for being here.

"We heard you managed to talk Banner into turning himself in." Natasha said.

"About time if you ask me." Ross said. "It should be a federal crime and treason for anyone who tried to attack Captain America."

Clint raised a brow at the general. It almost seemed like the older man really was a bigger fan of the captain than Coulson. The only difference was that Coulson had his head straight.

The general was hell bent on making sure that no one overpowered the American army. That was basically the reason that he wanted Bruce contained since the Hulk first made his appearance.

When the general had seen the power that the Hulk possessed, he wanted to make him the next nuclear missle. When that plan failed, Ross had been determined to give Bruce the option of joining the army or bring locked away.

"That man in there is the reason I joined the army." Ross said as he continued to watch Steve. "I heard stories about him when I was a kid and tried to be like him growing up."

"Sounds like you went a little too far." Clint remarked under his breath but the general heard it.

"Say what you want agent." Ross said. "None of you are soldiers like me or Rogers."

"Hate to break it to you buddy, but I did serve." Clint replied. "I know what it's like to give you're all for your country. Just like Rogers. Further more, I think you have something to do with what happened to him."

"What?!" Ross exclaimed. "How in the world can you accuse me of something like that?! I am an army general and Captain Rogers is a great icon. Why in the world would I want something like this to happen to him?!"

"I don't know yet but I will." Clint replied. "I'll find out what really happened and when I do, if I find out that you had something to do with it, you will go down."

"The real crook behind all of this is finally in a cage where he belongs." Ross said facing the two SHIELD agents. "Real soldiers look out for each other. Brothers in arms. You'll see for yourself when Captain Rogers regains consciousness and tell you that it was Banner that attacked him."

With that, Ross turned on his heel and walked away.

"He's tied in with this. I know it." Clint declared angrily under his breath as he leaned against the window and stared at Steve.

"I think so too but we have no way to prove it." Natasha said as she too looked at their captain. "Steve is the only one who knows for sure."

"If only we could get him to give us some kind of sign." Clint said.

"I know." Natasha said, wishing for the same thing. "But he's healing quickly. It's only a matter of time. We just have to try to be patient."

Clint sighed with a nod.

"Yeah." he agreed. "It just feels wrong. Steve's in a coma, I really feel that Ross has something to do with all of this and now Banner is being locked away for something he didn't do with his only chance to be cleared waiting to heal enough to wake up."

"Something will turn up." Natasha said. "We know that Bruce wouldn't hurt Steve and we'll have proof eventually."

"But not soon enough." Clint said with a defeated tone.

.

.

A/N: _Not sure if Clint really served in the Army. I'm hearing he did and I'm hearing he didn't. So I'm going with he did. Sorry for any confusion._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Bruce and Fury were both racing down the halls because of the recent page.

Steve had finally woken up.

The two were racing down the halls in hopes of being able to catch Steve and see if he was clear headed enough to talk about what happened in the warehouse.

The two came into the medical wing and to Steve's room where they ran into the rest of the Avengers.

"What's going on?" Bruce asked.

"Steve woke up just about two minutes ago." Clint answered. "The doctor is actually trying to put him back under."

"What?!" Fury exclaimed. "Banner, let's get in there."

Bruce followed Fury as he walked into the room. They were right away greeted with the sight of a barely conscious Steve and a doctor checking needed measurements to use in order to get Steve back to sleep.

"Hold on for a minute doctor." Fury said.

"Director, Captain Rogers needs to be put back to sleep again. His mind is still not strong enough to be conscious yet."

"Just hold on." Fury said. "We need to speak with him."

"Sir, I highly doubt that you will be able to get a straight answer from him." the doctor replied. "He's still in a haze and his answers may not be clear with his answers."

"We'll try anyway." Bruce said as he stood directly next to Steve and positioned himself to be directly in Steve's line of sight. "Steve?"

The blond soldier turned his half opened eyes to the person who called his name.

"Steve, do you remember me?" Bruce asked.

Steve closed his eyes and Bruce believed that he may have fallen asleep again before the blue eyes opened again.

"Banner." Steve nearly whispered.

"Medicine or not, he's not going to be awake for much longer." Bruce said.

"Then let's get to the point." Fury said switching places with Bruce. "Rogers, it's Fury. I need you to think real hard and tell me what happened the night you were attacked in the warehouse."

Steve looked at Fury with confusion but it seemed the question sunk in regardless.

"Red." he said. "Red. N-no...Gre..."

"Rogers, what happened when you were ambushed?" Fury asked more firmly but trying not to pressure the soldier.

"Wasn't...It...Re..." Steve's head weakly turned side to side as he continued to mutter words.

"Director, we really need to let him rest." the doctor insisted and injected the pain medication into the IV bag.

Steve continued to mumble unheard words as he started to slowly slip back into a state of unconsciousness.

Bruce wasn't sure if it was from the medicine or not since there was barely anything around that was strong enough to have an effect on Steve for very long or at all. The serum in his blood made it where Steve was practically immune to all drugs, hypnosis and other chemicals that could harm him.

The doctor and director moved out of the room and back into the hall where the others were still waiting.

"Well?" Tony pressed.

"He's out again." Bruce said. "I think it's just a side effect. Medicine isn't anywhere near strong enough to put him back under."

"Were you able to talk to him about the attack?" Natasha asked.

"Tried to." Fury answered. "The only thing he said was 'Red'."

"Red?" Clint repeated with confusion written on his face.

"Maybe he's still too out of it to give a straight answer." Tony suggested.

"Perhaps." Bruce said although he thought it was still strange that Steve was only about to solidly give a one word answer. A color of all things.

There was a chane that it could be because Steve was still too confused to give any kind of answer.

But he was able to tell who was talking to him. He couldn't have been too confused if he knew who Bruce was.

So why did he keep saying 'red'?


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

A/N: _Due to requests, another chapter was written and posted as quickly as possible._

.

Tony, Thor, Clint and Bruce sat at the glass table located in the bridge of the Helicarrier. Natasha had stayed with Steve in his ICU room in case he woke up again and was able to speak clearly about what happened to him.

"We're no closer to solving this thing then when it first happened." Tony said with a defeated tone.

"Just try to keep a clear head." Fury said as he slowly walked to the front of the table. "It's just going to take a while longer for Rogers to be able to tell us what happened."

"Is there another way to see exactly who it was that injured our captain?" Thor asked.

"The only thing we have is the security video." Bruce answered. "There wasn't much on it to get any ideas of who attacked Steve."

"But, since we've looked at it a hundred times already, why not look at it again?" Tony said as he tapped on his tablet which, after a few seconds, brought up a holographic screen in the middle of the table.

"Remind me to ask you how keep getting into the system." Fury said before the video started playing.

They all watched as Steve crept up to the warehouse and vanish inside. They watched as nothing happened for a few minutes before the fight broke out.

They watched as the building began to break under the fight. The same familiar bulky shadow figure walked by the gaping hole in the wall.

"Why is this not in color like your other monitors?" Thor asked. "It may allowed us to better see who attacked Steven."

"This is how the security camera captured the attack." Clint answered as the video came to an end.

Once more, no other clues surfaced that could be of use to them.

"Agent Romanoff has offered to stay with Rogers over night." Fury said once the holographic screen vanishe. "The rest of you should go back to the tower and try to get some rest."

"I will not leave my friend when he is wounded." Thor stated calmly. "I will stay with Lady Natasha and continue to keep watch over our friend."

"That would actually make a lot of us feel better." Fury said. "But I will have a room set up for you in case you get tired and need to rest for a while."

"Thank you." Thor said before standing and heading down the hall back toward the ICU.

"You three should head back to the tower and rest." Fury advised. "We'll inform you right away if there's any changes."

"Make sure you do." Tony said as he stood. "You know that I don't like being kept out of things this important. We all remember what happened last time that happened."

"Yes and SHIELD is still trying to come up with a better security." Fury replied.

"I'll come up with better hacking codes." Tony said before he led Clint and Bruce out of the bridge.

"Will you really?" Clint asked.

"Clint, you should know me by now." Tony answered with a smirk.

"Of course," Clint muttered with a smirk. "What was I thinking to ask if you really would do it or not?"

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

Tony sighed happily as he walked into his bedroom and pracitcally dove onto the bed.

"Is Steve doing better?" Pepper asked as she walked over with a tall glass of ice water.

"He woke up for a while but fell asleep only about a minute after." Tony answered sitting up to drink the water. When he was finished with it, he continued his answer. "I think he's doing better. He wasn't able to give us a straight answer but I think he's going to be ok."

"That's good." Pepper said with a relieved look. "It would be so upsetting to everyone if Steve didn't get better soon."

"Tell me about it." Tony agreed. "I don't think any one would be happy to hear that America's pride and joy would be down for very long."

"Of course not." Pepper said. "I'm just glad that he's going to be ok. Think he'll be able to tell you who did this to him?"

"Hope so." Tony said. "He was only able to say 'red'."

"Red?" Pepper repeated. "You mean, like someone dressed in red attacked him?"

"I don't think..." Tony paused before suddenly standing up and hugging Pepper. "Did I ever mention that you're a genius?"

Pepper wasn't able to answer when Tony suddenly sprinted out of the room.

"Jarvis, can you make sure that Tony doesn't hurt himself?" she asked.

_"Of course Ms. Potts."_

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

"Jarvis, bring up the security feed of Steve at the harbor." Tony instructed as he walked over to his work table.

_"Right away, sir."_ Jarvis replied as the security feed appeared before Tony.

Tony watched the feed once before giving the AI another instruction.

"Jarvis, try to converge this into color feed."

The genius billionare watched as the video before him began to shake and fill with a little static for a few minutes before the screen finally cleared.

_"Request complete, sir. Shall I play the feed?"_

"Yes."

Tony watched with nearly unblinking eyes as the video played in color. He was a little surprised that the feed had been able to get changed into color.

_I have to remember to tell Point Break that he's pretty clever._ Tony thought to himself as he watched Steve appear on the screen and duck into the warehouse.

He waited impatiently as he watched the screen until the fight started. Right when the moment came, Tony shouted.

"Freeze the frame!"

The frame stopped right as the once shadow appeared in front of the gaping hole. His eyes went wide when he saw a large spot of red.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Natasha perked up when she heard a moan come from the man before her. She looked at Steve and saw his head move a bit.

"Steve?" she spoke softly. "Steve. Can you hear me?"

Steve gave another moan before his eyes slowly fluttered open and he saw the woman next to him.

"Steve, do you remember me?" she asked.

The soldier stared at her for a second before quietly answering.

"Ms. Romanoff."

Natasha lightly smirked.

"Steve, how many times do I have to tell you that you don't need to be so formal with me?"

Steve gave her a weak smirk.

"How do you feel?"

"Head hurts." he answered.

"Anything else hurt?"

"Everything."

_He'd admitting that he's in pain._ Natasha thought as she pressed the call button. _That's not a good sign._

As they waited for the doctor, Natasha helped Steve get a little more comfortable.

"How long have I been like this?" the captain asked as Natasha fluffed his pillow.

"A few days." she answered. "You've been out of it for a while. You did wake up for a while not too long ago but it wasn't for very long. Bruce and Fury tried talking to you."

"I think I remember." Steve said. "Not talking but I do remember saying something to Dr. Banner."

"He and Fury tried asking you what happened when you were attacked. The only thing you said was 'red'."

"Red?" Steve repeated looking and sounding a little confused. "Why would I say red?"

"Don't stress yourself out." Natasha warned. "You're still recovering. It's going to take a little time for your head to clear up."

"Can I talk to Dr. Banner?"

Natasha hesitated. Should she tell Steve that Bruce was on watch because everyone believes that he's the one who attacked the super soldier?

Looking closely at Steve, Natashs didn't see any signs of fear at the thought of talking to the doctor. Hurt head or not, feelings of fear toward something still stood.

If Steve wasn't showing any kind of fear toward Bruce, that could only mean...

Natasha was interrupted from her thoughts when the door opened and the doctor assigned to Steve walked in. She stood a few feet away as the man began to look over the leader of the Avengers.

The entire time, she was trying to figure out if what the guessed might be possible.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

"He directly asked to talk to me?" Bruce exclaimed.

"He did." Natasha confirmed. "He wasn't showing any kind of fear about it either."

"Then that means that Banner _is_ innocent." Clint declared. "Why would Steve want to talk to someone who everyone thinks almost killed him and not be afraid?! Banner didn't do it."

"That would explain the red spot on the feed." Tony said. "Hulk is the jolly green giant after all and he listens to Rogers."

"Ok. So we're half way to proving that Banner didn't do this to Rogers." Fury said. "But there's still a lot of evidence pointing to him. We need more."

"Steve can tell us himself now that he's awake." Clint said.

"He's still got a while to go before he's clear headed enough to tell us exactly what happened." Fury pointed out. "He doesn't even remember me and Banner talking to him."

"How long do you think it will be before the captain is able to explain how his injuries came to be?" Thor asked.

"He's showing good signs right now." Bruce explained. "He's awake and slowly becoming more alert. He should be able to tell us what happened in a few days time."

"I just hope that it'll be sooner." Fury said. "He's the only one that can officially clear Banner of being the one who did this to him."

"Then we can look for the real person that did this to Steve." Clint declared.

"I'm gonna go make my respulsors extra strong for this." Tony said. "Just knowing we're getting close to finding out who's behind this is making me trigger happy."

"I am also eager to deliver punishment onto the one that harmed our friend." Thor added.

"Well, you're both going to have to wait a little longer for that. Rogers still needs a little time to get his head together. Take this time to try to get yourselves together. We've all been pretty much working non-stopped ever since we got the call about Rogers." Fury said.

"Yes, we should be rested in order to capture this enemy." Thor agreed.

"I'll have a fresh guard put in charge of watching Rogers. All of you should go back to the tower and rest." Fury stated.

"You sure that you'll have him under tight lock and key?" Tony asked as the five Avengers stood.

"I promise." Fury vowed.

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

"It feels nice to be back." Natasha said as the five collapsed onto the couches.

"Tower sweet tower." Tony mused.

"This kinda sucks without Cap here with us." Clint said.

"I know." Tony agreed. "This whole mess is going to bother me until we have the real culprit in front of us."

"Here's a thought. What if we do catch the guy and he tries the same thing with us that he did to Steve?" Natasha asked with a thoughtful expression.

"Good question." Tony said. "Guess you're gonna have to teaser Brucie."

"Hey. You do that enough as it is." Bruce said with a weak smirk.

"Don't act like you don't love it." Tony replied.

"It is a situation we do need to consider." Thor said. "What if the man who hurt our friend tries the same plan with us? I feel that, if he discover his identity, he will not be willing to face justice so easily."

"You're right about that Thor." Clint said. "No one really likes to face justice when they've done something wrong. That's why they try to run and hide."

"This man will wish to face justice when I get my hands on him." Thor vowed.

"I think he'll think the same thing when the rest of us show up to help you." Natasha said.

"I'm sure Steve will be so happy to hear that we're seeking vengence." Bruce said with a more appearant smirk on his face.

"Revenge. Nothing like it Doc." Clint mused.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Steve was sound asleep that night when doctor's last checked on him. Four armed guards were posted outside his door for the night.

Fury had stopped by to see how the super soldier was recovering before retiring for the night himself.

Everything seemed like it was going to be a quiet and peaceful night. Something that was extremly rare for everyone that had anything to do with SHIELD.

Inside his room, Steve was slowly starting to wake up. Something was making him feel uneasy and he didn't like it.

Especially since he was on the SHIELD helicarrier with dozens of SHIELD agents on board. He should be feeling secured and not worried but those were the two things that he wasn't feeling right now.

The soldier became fully conscious and was able to slowly, but painfully, sit up. He felt his ribs and sides protest to the movement but he did his best to ignore it.

The feeling that something wasn't right was bothering him too much to ignore. He'd gotten this feeling too many times during the war and it never once mislead him. He sure wasn't about to do that now.

_Something just isn't right._ he thought to himself as he craned his neck to be able to look outside the window only to see the pitch black of night. _I'm wounded, my team isn't around, there's fresh but new guards here...This just screams the perfect chance for an enemy to attack._

Upon thinking of the words 'enemy' and 'attack', Steve's mind suddenly flashed back to the warehouse. Where he'd been attacked.

Quick memories of Bruce and the others talking to him made him recall that everyone thought it had been the doctor himself that attacked and nearly killed him.

Feeling his head swim, Steve laid down and tried to clear his thoughts.

He knows that it wasn't Bruce that attacked him. For whatever reason it was, Hulk actually listened to him and never once shown a sign of hurting him.

It hadn't been Bruce that attacked him.

A sudden wave of drowziness hit Steve and it confused him a little. He forced his heavy eyes open and looked around the room. Everything was tilting and it was making him feel sick to his stomach.

He looked to the side and saw a blurry figure standing next to his bed.

"You're not going to tell anyone what happened." the figure said before everything suddenly went black in Steve's world.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

"Tell us what happened!" Clint ordered angrily as he grabbed the doctor by the collar of his white coat and pinned him to the wall. "When we left here he was doing fine. Now we come back to hear that he had a seizure and his heart almost stopped. You better give us some answers!"

"We don't know what happened." the frightened doctor answered.

"Are you sure that's the answer you want to give?" Natasha asked as she pulled out one of her guns and put it directly against the man's temple.

"Look, I don't know what happened. The only thing we could find was that Captain Rogers was injected with something that caused the seizure and his heart to almost stop. We weren't able to indentify what was used to do such a thing."

"So _who_ did it?!" Clint demanded.

"Barton! Romanoff! Knock it off!"

The two master assassins didn't move for a second but then released the doctor. They kept their firm and warning looks on him as Fury walked over.

"Doctor, how is the captain?" Fury asked in a manner that was much more calmer than the ones Clint and Natasha had used.

"He's stable, sir." the doctor answered. "We had to put him back on oxygen support and we're running tests to try to identify the injection that was used on him."

"Good." Fury said. "Keep up the good work and let me know something I want to know as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

Clint and Natasha had to hold themselves back as the doctor walked away. They kept their firm appearances when Fury turned to them.

"Look, I know that you want answers. I do too. But you _cannot_ scare it out of the medical help that's trying to save Rogers."

"Sir, you know as well as us that something like this could have only been done by someone close by."Clint said. "Someone on this flying ship is responsible for this."

"I'm not arguing with you about it. I agree actually. But until we can figure out _who_ is doing this, the two of you will refrain from scaring the daylight out of anyone else here. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." the two answered.

"Now, because of this little incident, I want one of the Avengers with Rogers at all times." Fury said. "I want all of you to take shifts with him since it seems that's the only time that he's safe."

"We'll get in touch with the others and let them know." Natasha said.

"Good. Go stay with him now. I'll be there in a while and we can continue this conversation." Fury said before walking into a room.

Clint and Natasha right away left to Steve's room. Upon entering the room and seeing their captain lying so still with a respirator helping him breath, the two spies felt their anger rise to a new level.

Steve had just started recovering from his mysterious attack and now had to begin recovery all anew from this new attack.

"This has to be the same guy that attacked him." Clint said.

"I agree but how could they have gotten onto the hellicarrier without anyone noticing?" Natasha asked with a look of deep thought on her face. "And how did they know what would work on the world's only super soldier?"

"It had to be someone none of us would suspect." Clint said. "Someone who knows enough about Steve to know what can and can't affect him."

"I think we need to have Tony make bugs to put in here." Natasha said. "I know that we're going to be with him at all times but I think some extra unseen eyes would make me feel better."

"Bruce would definatly know that stuff but he's clean." Clint said. "We know that he wouldn't hurt Cap and we were with him on the last attack. It has to be someone else that's close enough to get past all of us without raising the red flag."

"Who else is like that?" Natasha asked mostly herself as she looked at Steve.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

_Chapter dedicated to Qweb._

.

.

Natasha sat curled up in the armchair next to the bed and tried to keep her eyes open. Sleep was heavily weighing her eyelids down and she was donig what she could to stay awake.

_Ok. So Steve knows who attacked him and he knows who's trying to frame Banner into looking like he's the one who did this. Somehow, they got here, found out where Steve is and tried to finish the job. This all doesn't seem like the work of a hitman. So there has to be something we're all missing. Something..._

Natasha was quickly brought out of her thoughts when she felt something drape across her body. She looked up with sleepy eyes to see Clint standing above her.

"Sleep." he ordered sounding like he was still wide awake. "I'll keep watch until morning."

"No." Natasha replied. "I can't leave you to watch Steve all night by yourself."

"Just rest Nat. You won't win against me. You're too tired from everything that's going on. Just sleep for a while and I'll wake you up before Tony and Thor get here."

Natasha lightly sighed.

Clint was right. There was no way she had the energy to try to talk her way into staying awake with him all night. She was about to crash right then and there and be out like a light for the next several hours.

She didn't want to sleep for fear that something would happen. Something that Clint may not be able to handle on his own and something would happen to Steve again but she knew that she couldn't fight in the state she's in.

"Alright." she agreed. "But at the slightest sign that something is wrong with Steve, you wake me up."

"Promise." Clint vowed. "I'll wake you an hour before we change shifts."

"Ok." Natasha agreed with a nod. She reclined the armchair back and made herself as comfortable as she could get in the armchair. Not even five minutes went by before she was sound asleep.

Clint was glad to see that Natasha was finally getting some sleep. They'd been going on for hours. Nearly thirty six if he guessed right. He and Natasha were use to going on like this but the stress and worry for their team leader was wearing them down.

Honestly, Clint was a little surprised at himself and the emotions he was feeling. He hadn't expected to care as much with what was happening to Steve.

He did care about the soldier but he didn't think that he would be this concerned. Volunteering to stand guard at night, threatening doctor's lives for information, helping hunt down the person that was doing this to him...

A little surprised to admit it, Clint believed that he had become close friends with Steve.

He knew that he would be around the super soldier a lot due to the fact they were on the same team, working for the same organization and were constantly avenging things together but he hadn't believed that he would one day be saying that he was friends with Steve Rogers.

It was like those one in a million things. Bigger than winning any lottery. Being friends with Captain America was like finding the holy grail.

Clint wondered if this was how Coulson felt when he first met the captain.

_Oh no. I'm turning into a fanboy._ Clint thought to himself as he shook his head. Steve was cool and all but the archer was not about to turn into another one of his crazed fanboys. There were enough of those already.

Clint leaned back in his chair and gazed over to Steve who was still unmoving.

He would be many to agree that seeing Steve like this wasn't natural. The soldier was always moving or so quick to heal that he almost never had to be in a hospital for more than an hour.

Usually he was helping keep either helping Clint or Tony pinned long enough for a doctor to examine them. Both men would admit that they were not the best patients in the world.

Steve was always up and about, helping someone who needed it, working out, anything...Almost anything was better than seeing him like this.

_What in the world was used to make him like this?_ Clint wondered. _Almost nothing can affect Steve like this. So who in the world could have known enough about Steve to know what can and can't affect him? And how could they have gotten close enough to try to finish the job?_

Clint stood and quietly paced the floor. He'd long since removed his boots so he felt a little more comfortable walking around in the room. Quietly making his way past the sleeping Natasha, Clint went to the window in the room and looked out to see the sparkling lights of the city a few hundred feet below them.

_Whoever did this, they had to have known exactly where Steve is and they wouldn't have been questioned about their presence on here. But who else knows about that? It has to be someone who works with SHIELD but isn't part of it themselves. Someone who knows just enough about SHIELD to not be questioned when they come to see Fury about anything. Someone..._

Clint's eyes slightly widened when he realized there was only one person that he knew of who had that kind of authority on the helicarrier. One person he knew of that wasn't part of SHIELD but worked with them on several occasions.

_No._ he thought to himself with a small shake of his head. _This guy wouldn't do that. Sure he has a problem with someone on the team but that doesn't mean that he'd stage hurting Steve just to get to him. Does it?_

Clint looked over to Steve and found himself second guessing his thoughts.

_Am I right?_ he wondered.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Clint looked at his watch. It was just before six. He would have to wake Natasha soon and let her know that Tony and Thor were going to show up soon and take the next shift.

All night he had been alone with his thoughts. The guesses and suspicions of the person who might be behind this entire situation.

He knew he had to bring this up to Fury but he was worried that he might be wrong or that no one would beleive him.

The person he suspected was someone that couldn't be seen doing something like this so easily.

The beeping of his watch suddenly brought Clint out of his thoughts.

He lightly frowned when he heard the door to the room open and Natasha wake up.

"Clint!" She scolded. "You were suppose to wake me up."

"Sorry." Clint apologized. "I thought you might need more sleep."

"Don't let it happen again." the spy warned.

"I thought all women liked their beauty sleep." Tony said.

"I'm not like other women." Natasha stated as she stood.

"No argument there." Tony half muttered. "Anyway, you two are releaved of Capsicle duty. Time for me and Point Break to take over."

"Good." Clint said as he stood. "I need to talk with Fury."

"About what?" Natasha asked. "Clint?!"

The archer was out of the room without bothering to answer.

"Something happen?" Tony asked.

"He let me sleep all night so I have no idea what's wrong with him." Natasha answered. "But I'll find out what's going on."

"We shall stay here with the captain." Thor declared. "He shall be guarded carefully."

"Glad to hear that." Natasha said. She gave Steve one more look before leaving the room and began her search for either her partner or the SHIELD director.

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

"Sir, I need to have an important word with you." Clint declared as he stood on the other side of the director's desk.

"How important?" Fury asked as he looked at a file in his hands.

"It concerns what's going on with Captain Rogers." Clint answered.

This right away got Fury's attention. Clint's tone of voice and the way he addressed the super soldier were dead give aways that the archer was in his serious mood.

"What is it, Agent Barton?" Fury asked as he set the file down and gave the man his complete attention.

"Sir, I think I may know who it is that's behind all of these attacks on Captian Rogers and trying to frame Dr. Banner."

"So tell."

Clint whirled around and saw Natasha enter the office. She closed the door and placed her hands on her hips.

She didn't look to be in the mood to be kept in the dark.

Clint knew that there was no way that she was going to be kept out of this topic so he should just go ahead and let her know what he thought. He turned back to Nick as she walked over.

"Sir, last night the situation involving the captain got me thinking about who could be behind this." Clint started. "I realized that it had to be someone close enough to SHIELD to know enough of what goes on and when the best time to attack would be. They would have needed to know enough about Captain Rogers to know what could and couldn't affect him and the right dosage to use. Someone who works with SHIELD but isn't part of the organization itself."

"You sound like you're describing Tony or Bruce." Natasha stated with a small glare. She wasn't sure what her partner was getting at but she didn't like the sound of it so far.

"Barton, are you saying that you think Stark or Banner is behind this?" Fury asked.

"No, sir." Clint answered. "It's not them. They both have alibis during both attacks and I know that they wouldn't do something like this to Cap."

"Then who are you talking about?" Natasha asked in a slight impatient tone.

"Think. Who would know enough about Rogers? Who would try to set Banner up to take the blame of the attack? Who is around SHIELD enough so that they wouldn't be questioned about something like this?"

The two SHIELD agents thought over Clint's words very carefully. There were very few people who were trusted enough by SHIELD to not be given a second thought of when certain situations occured.

But Clint had a point about someone needing to know both Steve and Bruce to formulate this plan.

Since Steve had just been revived not even two years ago, this person would have had to do some heavy reading and study on the super soldier before he'd been found. They would have also needed to know about Bruce enough to know the triggers and traits of the Hulk so the blame could be put on him.

Natasha's eyes lightly widened when she realized there was only one person she knew of that fit the description.

"You think it's General Ross." she stated.

"Yes." Clint confirmed. "It has to be him. He personally knows Banner and practically worships Rogers."

"Then why would he attack him?" Fury questioned.

"It was the only way that he believed Bruce could really be put away for good." Clint answered. "Like he said before, there's people out there that believe such an attack on Cap should be punishable by death or something and he probably thinks that, since he can't do it, SHIELD could be the only ones to lock him up."

"Sir, it makes sense." Natasha said to their superior. "Ross has been trying to either arrest Bruce or kill him because of the Hulk and his daughter. Those are his two top reasons for hating Bruce. He probably hates him so much that he came up with this little plan so we would think that it was Bruce that attacked Steve so we could kill him and there would be no more Hulk. Ross knows enough about both of them to make a plan like this."

Fury stared at two of his best agents.

This was a serious accusation but it did sound possible. He knew of the general's plans to arrest or kill Banner and that they'd been going on since the accident that turned the doctor into the Hulk.

Ending project Hulk Buster probably sent the general off the deep end. It had practically become his life's work to destroy the green monster.

As Fury continued to think about it, he realized that everything had been planned out by someone who would have had to be an expert in tactics.

All of the attacks had happened at the most opprotune moments and the right evidence had been left behind to pin someone else to the crime scene.

It was possible that Clint may have figured out exactly who had done this and why.

"Barton, are you willing to repeat those thoughts if General Ross is brought here for questioning?" Fury asked as he stood.

"Yes." Clint answered simply.

"Then know, that if you're wrong about this, your career and place on the Avengers will be compromised." Nick warned.

Clint nodded before he and Natasha were both dismissed and left the director's office.

"Clint, are you sure about this?" Natasha asked. "This is a really big risk."

"Nat, I know it's a big risk but I just have this guy feeling. I'm really sure about this." Clint replied.

"Well, I'm behind you Clint. When Steve wakes up, he can tell us everything. Until then, we're going to have to think of a way to get Ross to talk."

"Won't be easy. He's a general who knows how to keep a secret. But I think I might know a way to get him to spill." Clint said.

"Let's go tell the others. They're going to want to know about this if Ross is going to be brought here." Natasha said. "We should leave Thor with Steve though."

"And we should have Bruce with us when we confront Ross." Clint said. "Dangerous, I know, but it might add a little more pressure on him."

"Ok. What else should we do?"

"I think we should have Steve relocated." Clint answered. "Keeping him here with all this stuff going on won't be a good thing. We should see about him getting relocated back to Stark Tower."

Natasha continued to listen to her partner as they made their way back to the medical wing. She really hoped he was right about all of this.

He'd spent so long building his reputation as a SHIELD agent and Avenger. It would be so upsetting if it all went down the drain because he guessed wrong.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

"You really think that Ross is behind all of this?" Tony asked.

"I really think it is him." Clint answered after he explained everything to the Avengers once they had all gathered in Steve's room.

"It does indeed sound like this general would want what he believe is revenge on our friend." Thor said. "I am unpleased that a man of his status would wish to harm our friends like this."

"It does make sense when you think about it." Tony said. "He hurt Cap and made everyone think that it was Bruce who did it. He knows that Hulk and Thor are the only ones that can out muscle Cap and since Ross has obvious reason for impersonating the Hulk and not Thor it all fits. My question is, how did he pull off a second Hulk?"

"Bruce, was there anything left from the accident that could have allowed him to 'copy' you?" Natasha asked.

"Nothing that I know of." Bruce answered. "Everything had been destroyed once they saw what happened to me. They didn't want anything like me at first but when they saw the kind of power the Other Guy has they wanted more. As weapons."

"What about when they chased you in Brazil?" Clint asked. "They get ahold of anything that had your blood or anything?"

"No. I was really careful with..." Bruce paused as a look of realization crossed his face.

"What?" Tony asked.

"There was a way to get my blood." the doctor said through a heavy sigh. "Samuel Sterns. A cellular biologist who thought he could help me cure myself of the Hulk. But he needed a blood sample. I sent him a single tube of my blood but he synthesized it and made more. He had dozens of samples of my blood because he believed it would help people medicine wise in the future. I never knew what they did with all of that blood."

"There's a chance that Ross could have taken some of it and modified it so that he made a second Hulk." Tony said. "Only this one is red and doesn't like America's golden boy."

"If that Red Hulk is Ross or someone else, then they would have needed someone to help modify my blood." Bruce said. "Ross doesn't exactly have the right minded people to help him with this. Look what happened to Blonsky."

"But what if Ross doesn't talk?" Tony asked. "He's naturally going to deny everything. Claim that he would never do anything to the greatest soldier that ever lived."

"He would do something like that." Bruce agree." He'll do anything to save his own a**. That was one of the reasons he wanted me dead so badly."

"So we have to make him mad." Tont stated. "Getting him mad will bring out his other side. Hopefully."

"I don't think Fury would be happy to have two Hulk's on the helicarrier." Clint said.

"Well, unless Steve wakes up soon, we don't really have a choice." Natasha said.

As if on cue, a light groan caught their attention and all eyes turned to Steve who was slightly moving his head.

"Steve." Tony said as he placed a gentle hand on the man's shoulder. "Cap, you awake?"

"Ye...sir." Steve muttered.

"Good answer." Tony said with a slight smirk. "Come on Capsicle. Wake up."

"Don't force him." Natasha lightly scolded as she lightly slapped Tony's arm.

"Come on Cap. Wake up and protect me from Natasha." Tony said.

"He'll stay asleep if he thinks Nat is threatening you." Clint said.

"Probably." Tony agreed.

Steve lightly moaned and his eyes slowly opened. He looked dazed for a moment and the others gave him time to get his head clear.

"Steve," Bruce said as he stood next to the soldier. "Do you know where you are?"

Steve looked around and slowly blinked before answering.

"Hospital?"

"Close. SHIELD medical wing." Bruce answered. "You're still recovering from your latest attack."

"What attack?" Steve asked.

"You were almost clear from your first mystery attack when someone tried to kill you with some kind of poison that we still don't know what it was." the doctor explained.

"Steve, did you see who it was that attacked you the second time?" Natasha asked as gently as she could.

"Was it someone you knew or someone familiar?" Clint added.

"It was...a man." Steve answered. "It happened to fast but it was an older man. White or gray hair."

"That's it." Tony declared. "It was Ross."

"We don't know that for sure." Bruce said.

"It has to be." Clint declared. "He's the only other person besides you that would know enough about Steve to hurt him like this."

"Guess making him mad is the only way for it to work." Tony said. "We're gonna have to trick him into the cage and hit him with the bug zapper."

"Are you obsessed with cattle prodes or something?" Clint asked.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

"Everything is going to happen today." Bruce said as he entered the room. "We're going to move Steve somewhere safe in case something goes wrong."

"I'm going with him." Natasha stated.

"We'll feel better knowing he's got the world's greatest body guard." Tony said.

"I would like to accompany you Lady Widow but I feel that I would be more useful here." Thor said.

"That would make us feel even better." Tony declared. "I remember when you stood up to Hulk."

"I hope there are no hard feelings between us for that friend Banner." Thor said.

"None at all, Thor." Bruce replied.

"Ok. Let's go and get everything set up. Let's get Steve somewhere safe and have Ross here for interrogation." Clint said.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

Clint quietly stood at the end of the table as he waited for news of the general's arrival.

Steve and Natasha had been sent off with a security escort an hour ago to a secret location. Their only means of contact to signal the two to come back would be Thor conjuring a thunderstorm on a perfectly calm day.

None of them were sure how long this was going to take or what was going to happen.

Steve still hadn't been clear headed enough to confirm if the one who attacked him was Ross or not so they were all still in the dark. Regardless, they felt better knowing the soldier was somewhere safe for the rest of his recovery.

"So, what's your strategy?" Fury asked.

"I was planning on just making him mad." Tony said. "Get him to reveal himself."

"I think we should leave that as a last resort." Bruce said. "I think we should try to trick him into confessing."

"How shall we do that?" Thor asked.

"Ross was always so proud of his career and being an over protective father. If we get him worked up about his career than he should start filling in the blanks that Steve wasn't able to fill."

"He's going to deny it all." Nick said. "How are you going to get him worked up enough to confess?"

"I'll just say that I'm back with his daughter." Bruce said with a smirk. "That always made him mad."

"Bruce, you cheeky devil." Tony teased.

"Sure it won't cause him to go nuts and turn into your red twin?" Clint asked.

"It might." Bruce admitted. "But if he sees that we're trying to get him into that cage then he won't talk. We'll have to take our chances but be very careful at the same time. If Ross really is that red verion of the Other Guy then he won't be afraid to unless that power. Especially against me."

"He will find it difficult to try to win against us." Thor said as he placed an powerful hand on Bruce's shoulder.

"You got that right." Tony declared proudly. "I saw that if it comes to having to unleash the beast, we find a way to get him into that cage and zap him with the bug zapper or something."

"I really wonder how Rogers deals with you on the field." Fury said.

"Honestly, I do too." Tony admitted.

**.**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l~*~*~*~*~*l**

**.**

Steve slowly began to wake up as he felt something damp and cool being pressed gently onto his forehead. The patting didn't go away as he slowly opened his eyes and gave them time to adjust.

The first thing he became aware of was who was next to him.

"Natasha?"

"Glad you're awake." she said as she began to pat his temple. "Just relax. The trip was quiet and so is our new location."

"Where are we?" Steve asked as he tried to sit up only to be gently held down by Natasha.

"Somewhere safe for you to rest and fully recover." she answered.

"Where are the others?"

"They're back on the helicarrier." she said putting the wash cloth on the side table next to the bed. "They're going to speak with the person they believe is responsible for attacking you."

"What?!"

"General Ross is heading to the helicarrier. The others are going to see if he's the one that hurt you and almost killed you."

"But...they don't know..."

"Steve, you're the only one who knows who attacked you but we haven't been able to get a solid answer from you because of the attacks. Can you remember now?"

Steve laid back against his pillows and tried to think. He could recall someone with white hair standing over him and saying something to him but he wasn't clear on who it was.

"Just someone with white hair." he said. "They said something to me but I can't remember what it was."

Natasha nodded and they remained silent until Steve spoke again.

"What happens if it is Ross?" he asked.

"They're going to stop him and use his own words against him." Natasha answered. "You weren't awake when it happened but everyone had thought that it was Bruce who attacked you as the Hulk. Ross himself had said that attacking Captain America should be a life or death sentence. We won't kill him. Just lock him up and throw away the key."

"He seriously thinks that someone should be put to death if they hurt me?" Steve asked a little surprised.

"You are pretty important." Natasha said. "And don't you dare try to argue otherwise."

Steve didn't try to argue against her. Natasha made it clear when to accept what she told someone.

He just laid back and tried to keep his thoughts calm. Which wasn't an easy task. He felt like a heel just lying in a bed in an unknown location while his team took care of the situation going on.

He wanted to be there with them but he knew that Natasha would murder him and hide his body where no one would ever find it if he got out of the bed.

"So, what can I do to help you try to get your mind off of everything?" Natasha asked.

"Not much. Sorry to say." Steve answered.

"I have something in mind." Natasha replied as she leaned down and kissed Steve full on the lips.

Steve felt his eyes go wide at her actions and remained open as she pulled back and smirked at his expression.

"Well...it worked." he said.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

**By: MysticFantasy**

**.**

**.**

"Director Fury, good to see you." General Ross greeted as he walked into the bridge.

"General." Fury greeted in return. "Thank you for coming."

"Where's Captain Rogers?" Ross asked since he spotted Clint, Thor and Tony sitting at the glass table. "And Banner for that matter?"

"The locatin of Captain Rogers isn't important right now." Tony answered. "We need to speak with you about something important. It concerns both our super soldier and our jolly green giant."

"What's this about?" Ross lightly demanded.

"General, we're still investigating the attack on Captain Rogers." Fury started. "We have figured out that it was a Hulk."

"So you proved that it was Banner after all." Ross said. "Good job. But what do you need me here for?"

"For you to confess."

The general turned and stared at Bruce who stood to the side.

"What the hell are you talking about Banner?" Ross questioned.

"We know that it was you who attacked Steve Rogers in that warehouse." Bruce stated.

"Really?" Ross challenged. "From where I'm standing, Captain Rogers could beat me within an inch of my life with just one hand."

"You altered your DNA." Bruce stated. "The blood that was left behind after I tried to cure myself with Sam Sterns. You had easy access to it and decided to find your own way to get rid of me. Face it, knowing that I got away from you so many times and now am accepted as a hero who's free from everything you accused me of...it just burns you up."

"Well, you got that part right at least." Ross said. "I am burned up that you got away with every crime you committed."

"He didn't commit any crimes and you know it!" Tony declared. "He was surviving after you drove him away from the only home he had. You were the one who provoked him to change every time he tried to cure himself. But you just couldn't let it go. So you decided to come up with a new plan."

"Everyone knows that there's only two people strong enough to cause serious damage to Captain America." Clint continued. "You found a way to make it look like the Hulk had attacked America's hope. Like you said before, attacking Captain America should be a serious crime. Surely doing something that crazy against the greatest soldier the world has ever known would be an immediate death sentence. So you made it look like it was Banner who did it. Left the right clues and just enough evidence to point it toward him."

"Then how would you think _I_ did it?" Ross asked. "I'm a military man. Why would I try to attack Captain America?"

"Because it was the perfect way for everyone to turn on me." Bruce answered. "You even had SHIELD doubting me. But there was something that you didn't count on."

"Oh? Enlighten me."

"Hulk actually obeys Captain America." Tony answered. "We don't know why but he does. That right there made us all go back and look at everything again."

"That green monster actually understood what someone was telling it? I'll believe it the day hell freezes over."

"Guess that happened then because Hulk does follow Steve's orders." Tony said. "We know that Hulk wouldn't hurt Steve for no reason and Steve himself even pointed out that Hulk didn't look right."

"Captain Rogers regained consciousness?"

"A while ago and he told us that the Hulk that attacked him was _red_." Clint answered.

"Banner probably just wanted to throw everyone off guard." Ross suggested.

"How could Hulk do that? Massive tubs of finger paint?!" Tony questioned. "Hulk isn't exactly the artistic kind."

"Not to mention that Captain Rogers wasn't afraid of Bruce when he woke up and saw him." Clint added.

"Probably due to the injuries."

"Ross!" Bruce nearly shouted. "You know as well as I do that I am _not_ responsible for what happened!"

"Give me a solid piece of evidence that clears you, Banner!" the general shouted.

"Give the man what he wants." Tony said. "Show him the clip!"

"Clip?" Ross repeated with an almost surprised tone.


End file.
